June 27, 2003

NATIONAL OPEN: 8 WAY TIE FOR FIRST

SINCE it first started in 1965, the National Open in Las Vegas has always been regarded as one of the toughest tournaments on the American circuit.

The extravagant neon-lighted resort hotels, casinos, and bars that line "The Strip" have lured many a chess grandmaster there, all looking to win one of the big pots on offer during the four-day festival held at the Riviera Hotel, which ran June 12-15.

Although there was a guaranteed prize fund of $53,000 on offer, it was shared among nine separate tournaments with combined field of over 800 players. The top-rated open section ended in a eight-way GM tie for first on 5-1 between Alexander Wojtkiewicz, Sergey Kudrin, Petr Kiriakov (Russia), Gregory Serper, Hikaru Nakamura, U.S. Champion Alexander Shabalov, Ildar Ibragimov and Jaan Ehlvest (Estonia), who each won $1600 for their efforts; the Edmondson Cup going to Wojtkiewicz on tiebreak.

The National Open is also one of the six elite events in 2003 that acts as a qualifying tournament for the 2004 U.S. Championships, and, since those that came first equal are either already qualified, not eligible or declined to use the event as a qualifier, the two spots on offer went to the next scoring group down on 4.5/6: former champion GM Joel Benjamin, and FM Michael Casella.

Already qualified from the first event of the year at Foxwoods is Hikaru Nakamura, 15, who earlier this year broke Bobby Fischer's record of becoming the youngest grandmaster in the U.S. -- and is now being heavily tipped to win in 2004 to become the youngest holder of the U.S. title since Fischer.

Leaving Las Vegas in style, Nakamura turns in an almost Fischer-like performance in the final round with his trademark Sicilian Najdorf to tie for first place.

D Sadvakasov - H Nakamura
National Open, (6)
Sicilian Najdorf
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e6 7.f3 b5 8.g4 Nfd7 9.Qd2 Nb6 10.0-0-0 Bb7 11.Bd3 N8d7 12.Qf2 Rc8 13.Nce2 Be7 14.Kb1 Na4 15.h4 Ndc5 16.g5 0-0 17.Qg3 Qc7 18.Rc1 b4 19.h5 Nxd3 20.cxd3 Qd7 21.Rcg1 f5 22.gxf6 Bxf6 23.h6 g6 24.Nf4 Be5 25.Ndxe6 Qb5 26.Qf2 b3 27.Bd4 Rc2 28.Nxg6 hxg6 29.Bxe5 Rxf2 30.h7+ Kf7, 0-1.

ILYUMZHINOV: PROBLEMS AT HOME

AS if he hasn't enough problems in the chess world as it is, FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov now has to deal with a "little local difficulties" back home in the impoverished Russian republic of Kalmykia, where he is also the head of state.

On the orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kalmykia's Interior Minister Timofei Sasykov, one of Ilyumzhinov's most trusted supporters, was arrested recently on major charges of corruption and abuse of office.

Last October, as Ilyumzhinov faced an election challenge for the first time in Kalmykia since being elected in 1993, Putin stepped in to suspend Sasykov from office as he was seen to be interfering with the campaign. After winning a runoff election against the Putin-backed candidate Baatyr Shondzhiyev, Ilyumzhinov once again gave Sasykov the post of Interior Minister.

In a classic sting operation, Russia's Deputy Prosecutor Sergei Fridinsky explained to the Moscow Times that Sasykov first had to be lured out of the safety of Kalmykia to Nalchik in the southern Kabardino-Balkaria region on the pretext of having to attend a conference, where authorities lay in wait to arrest him. Fridinsky also hinted that the charges leveled against Sasykov could just be the tip of the iceberg.

The worry for the chess world, which has directly benefited to the tune of some $30 million from Ilyumzhinov since he took office in 1995 -- funds which many have questioned the legitimacy of -- is that the arrest may well be the opening gambit in a cleaning up process by Putin, and one that could seriously endanger Ilyuhmzhinov's continued support for the game that has solely depended on his largesse's.

June 25, 2003

MASTER D’ECHECS: BAREEV, ADAMS, & JUDIT POLGAR LEAD

ABOUT half an hour's drive north from Paris, Enghien-les-Bains' sole claim to fame has been the existence there of the only casino in the vicinity of the French capital. And every two years there, the small spa town also plays host to one of France's strongest tournaments: the Master d'Echecs.

THE Enghien-les-Bains tournament in France was won by Russia's Evgeny Bareev, who with a typically gritty performance over the piece took first place with an unbeaten score of 6.5/9.

Apart from a relatively short opening round game lasting just 35 moves, Bareev's other three wins in the tournament came from games that were in excess of 60 moves. Bareev's TPR for the tournament was an impressive 2828, and the Elo points garnered will propel him further up the top-ten standings, where he is currently ranked world number 7.

In 1991, Bareev first burst on to the world stage to take the number 4 spot, and stayed in the top ten until 1995. For a number of years thereafter, as his rating dropped, Bareev failed to attain the much-need invitations to top tournaments his undoubted talent deserved. However, a solid performance at the FIDE 2001 Championships in Moscow followed by a win at the 2002 Wijk aan Zee tournament (where he was a late replacement for Garry Kasparov) signaled a return to the elite circuit.

Also gathering much-needed Elo-points to insure he stays in the top ten was England's Mickey Adams, who was a half point behind Bareev in second place on 6/9. Boris Gelfand of Israel, a former world title candidate, stole the thunder in the final round with the only win of the round when he outclassed French star Christian Bauer -- a result that put him in a tie for third-fourth place with world No. 10 Judit Polgar of Hungary.

Final Standings: 1 E Bareev (Russia), 6.5/9; 2 M Adams (England) 6; 3-4 B Gelfand (Israel), J Polgar (Hungary) 5.5; 5 L Fressinet (France) 4.5; 6 C Bauer (France) 4; 7-8 T Radjabov (Azerbaijan), J Lautier (France) 3.5; 9-10 V Akopian (Armenia), V Korchnoi, (Switzerland) 3.

B Gelfand - C Bauer
Enghien-les-Bains, (9)
Catalan Opening
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Be7 6.Nf3 0-0 7.0-0 c6 8.Qb3 Nbd7 9.Bf4 Nh5 10.Be3 Nb6 11.Nbd2 f5 12.Ne5 f4 13.Bxf4 Nxf4 14.gxf4 Rxf4 15.e3 Rf8 16.Rad1 Bf6 17.f4 Qe7 18.Kh1 Rb8 19.c5 Nd7 20.Qa4 Ra8 21.b4 Qe8 22.Rf3 Bd8 23.Rg1 Nxe5 24.dxe5 Bd7 25.Bf1 Qh5 26.Rfg3 g6 27.Nf3 Be7 28.Nd4 Qh6 29.Qc2 Kf7 30.Rh3 Qg7 31.Bd3 Rg8 32.f5 exf5 33.Bxf5 Ke8 34.e6 Bc8 35.b5 Bf6 36.bxc6 Bxd4 37.cxb7 Bxb7 38.Qa4+ Kd8 39.exd4 Rc8 40.Qd7+ Qxd7 41.exd7 Rb8 42.Rxh7, 1-0.

J Polgar - J Lautier
Enghien-les-Bains, (4)
Sicilian Sveshnikov
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Bxf6 gxf6 10.Nd5 f5 11.Bd3 Be6 12.Qh5 Rg8 13.g3 Rg5 14.Qd1 Bxd5 15.exd5 Ne7 16.c3 Bh6 17.Be2 Rc8 18.c4 f4 19.cxb5 e4 20.gxf4 Qa5+ 21.Kf1 Rxd5 22.Qe1 Qc7 23.bxa6 Qd7 24.Rg1 Qh3+ 25.Rg2 Bxf4 26.Qb4 Bxh2 27.Bg4 Qd3+ 28.Be2 Qh3 29.Bg4 Qd3+ 30.Ke1 Nc6 31.Qb7 Qd2+ 32.Kf1 Qd3+ 33.Be2 Qh3 34.Rc1 Rg5 35.Bg4 Qd3+ 36.Ke1 e3 37.Bd7+ Ke7 38.Bf5+, 1-0.

B Gelfand - J Polgar
Enghien-les-Bains, (7)
Sicilian Taimanov
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be2 Nf6 7.0-0 a6 8.Be3 Bb4 9.Na4 Be7 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.Nb6 Rb8 12.Nxc8 Qxc8 13.Bd4 0-0 14.e5 Nd5 15.c4 Nf4 16.g3 c5 17.Bc3 Ng6 18.h4 f6 19.f4 fxe5 20.h5 Nh8 21.Bxe5 Rb6 22.Bd3 Nf7 23.Qg4 Nxe5 24.fxe5 Qe8 25.b3 Rb8 26.Rxf8+ Bxf8 27.Rf1 Kh8 28.Kg2 d6 29.Qe4 Qxh5 30.exd6 Bxd6 31.Rh1 Qf5 32.Rxh7+ Kg8 33.Qe2 Qe5 34.Qg4 Rf8 35.Qg6 Rf5 36.Rh2 Kf8 37.Rh8+ Ke7 38.Bxf5 Qe2+ 39.Kh3 Qf1+ 40.Kh4, 1-0.

J Polgar - T Radjabov
Enghien-les-Bains, (8)
Sicilian Sveshnikov
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Bxf6 gxf6 10.Nd5 Bg7 11.g3 Ne7 12.Nxe7 Qxe7 13.Bg2 0-0 14.0-0 Rb8 15.c3 f5 16.exf5 Bxf5 17.Nc2 a5 18.Ne3 Be6 19.Qd3 f5 20.Rad1 b4 21.Bd5 Kh8 22.Bxe6 Qxe6 23.Nc4 f4 24.Nxd6 bxc3 25.bxc3 Qxa2 26.c4 Bf6 27.Qd5 Qe2 28.c5 Rb2 29.Ne4 fxg3 30.hxg3 Kg7 31.Qc6 Qf3 32.Rd7+ Kg6 33.Qd6 Rbb8 34.Qd5 h5 35.Rd6 Kg7 36.Nxf6 Rxf6 37.Qxe5 Qf5 38.Qe7+ Rf7 39.Qe3 Kg8 40.c6 Rbf8 41.Qd4 Qg5 42.Qc4 Kg7 43.Rd5 Rf5 44.Rd7+ Kh6 45.c7 Rc5 46.Qa6+, 1-0.

June 24, 2003

NEW VENUE FOR KASPAROV-PONOMARIOV MATCH

AS revealed in this column some two week's ago, the on-off-on again FIDE title match between Garry Kasparov and Ruslan Ponomariov now looks set for a change of venue from Buenos Aires in Argentina to Yalta in the Crimea region of the Ukraine.

It's now reported by Ukrainian sources that both players have received official confirmation of the switch of venue from FIDE, and the match date now looks set to be in early September.

Yalta is famed for a world summit held there in the dying days of the Second World War between the "big three" of Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin, which endeavored to unify the world. Hopefully the new Yalta summit match may yet lead to unity in the chess world!

Worryingly, however, the proposed dates look likely to clash head-on with the annual Eurotel Trophy match in Prague -- yet another Bessel Kok and Serge Grimaux extravaganza -- which is believed to be a six-game "Battle of the Sexes" classical match between world number three Vishy Anand and top female player Judit Polgar.

June 20, 2003

CHESS ADVENTURES AT 10 DOWNING STREET

THE Scottish Youth Squad paid a visit to 10 Downing Street on Wednesday, as the six-strong squad, their parents and chess officials were received by Cherie Blair, wife of Prime Minister Tony Blair. The No.10 reception was held to commemorate the Chess Scotland's inauguration of a trophy for "Scottish Girl Chess Player of the Year".

The trophy, which will be competed for annually and called "The Cherie Booth, Q.C. Award", was presented by the prime minister's wife to its first recipient, 15-year-old Louise Macnab of Robert Gordon's College in Aberdeen. The sole girl in the squad, Lousie last year became the youngest Scot to represent her country at senior level, when she was selected to play for the Scottish Women's Team in the Bled Olympiad.

Later in the day, after first watching the prime minister coming under pressure in the House over his constitutional changes at the last Cabinet reshuffle, the Youth Squad was in action as they took on the House of Commons in a chess match on the hallowed Terrace overlooking the Thames, in an attempt at a political double following their landslide 5-0 victory last year at the Scottish Parliament over the MSPs.

Despite losing 5-1, the MPs were a more formidable opposition than their Scottish counterparts and even had a few champions and a "ringer" amongst their line-up. Top board was the Argyle and Bute M.P. Alan Reid, a former internationalist who played for Scotland in the 1978 Chess Olympiad in Argentina; board two was their ringer Julian Farrand, the retired Pensions Ombudsman; and on board three Dr Evan Harris M.P., a former U-18 Liverpool champion.

Youth Squad 5-1 MPs 1 Joe Redpath draw Alan Reid M.P.; 2 Daniel McGowan draw Julian Farrand; 3 Steven Tweedie 1-0 Evan Harris M.P.; 4 Colin Hall 1-0 David Kidney M.P.; 5 Christopher Macdonald 1-0 Sir Teddy Taylor M.P.; 6 Louise Macnab 1-0 Richard Younger-Ross M.P.

J Redpath - A Reid M.P.
Youth Squad vs. Parliamentarians
Owen's Defense
1.d4 b6 2.e4 Bb7 3.Nd2 e6 4.Ngf3 c5 5.c3 Nf6 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.a3 d5 8.e5 Nd7 9.b4 a6 10.0-0 Be7 11.Bb2 c4 12.Bc2 b5 13.Qe2 a5 14.Rfb1 a4 15.Rf1 Qc7 16.Ne1 0-0-0 17.f4 g6 18.Ndf3 Kb8 19.Bb1 Ka8 20.Nc2 Rdf8 21.Ne3 Bd8 22.Bc1 Ne7 23.Bd2 Nf5 24.Be1 Nxe3 25.Qxe3 Nb6 26.Ra2 Nc8 27.Bh4 Bxh4 28.Nxh4 h5 29.Nf3 Ne7 30.Ng5 Nf5 31.Bxf5 gxf5 32.Raf2 Bc8 33.Rf3 f6 34.exf6 Rxf6 35.Rh3 Qg7 36.Rh4 Qg8 37.Qe5 Qd8 38.Rf3 Rg6 39.Rfh3 Rxg5 40.fxg5 Qxg5 41.Qf4 Qxf4 42.Rxf4 Bd7 43.Rfh4 Be8 44.Kf2 Kb7 45.Ke3 Kc6 46.Kf4 Kd6 47.Rg3 Bf7 48.Rg7 Ke7 49.Ke5 Rh6 50.h3 Rf6 51.Rxh5 f4 52.Rhg5 f3 53.gxf3 Rxf3 54.h4 Rxc3 55.h5 Re3+ 56.Kf4 Re4+ 57.Kf3 c3 58.Rg1 Rh4 59.Ke3 Rxh5 60.Rf1 Rf5 61.Rxf5 exf5 62.Kd3 Kf6 63.Rg1 Bg6 64.Kxc3, draw.

June 19, 2003

RUSSIAN TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS: LADJA-KAZAN-1000 WINS

The GM in question turned out to be Russia's Evgeny Sveshnikov, who took the radical stance of trying to change his name as he saw it as a threat to his livelihood with all his games appearing on chess databases. His argument was that it made it easier for weaker opponents to prepare against him in the large European Opens he had to compete in to earn a living, following the demise of the Soviet Union.

Apparently Sveshnikov was at it again, and was behind a revolt at the recent Russian Team Championships that took place May 16-25 in Tolghiatti (part of the Penza Region), as the players voted not to publish the scores of the games on the internet.

After the event, however, several anonymous players passed on their daily bulletins to allow the games to be duly published on websites such as Mark Crowther's The Week In Chess. The real-time coverage of an important event such as this with a star-studded line-up would not have done any harm to the popularity of the game, and could even have encouraged a big-time sponsor.

Some of the top players taking part in the 14-team event included Peter Svidler, Alexander Khalifman, Alexander Grischuk, Aleksei Dreev, Alexander Morozevich, Sergei Rublevsky and even the timeless Viktor Korchnoi.

Surprisingly, no Moscow team made it to the six-team 'A' Finals after the preliminary group stages, and the event was won by Ladja-Kazan-1000 (Rublevsky, Bologan, Smirin, Kharlov, Vaganian etc) ahead of Nornickel (Dreev, Malakhov, Zvjaginsev, Onischuk etc) and Tomsk-400 (Morozevich, Khalifman, Filippov etc) and St. Petersburg (Svidler, Sakaev, Volkov, Korchnoi etc.).

A Morozevich - A Grischuk
Russian Team Ch., (2)
Queen's Gambit Declined
1.c4 e6 2.Nf3 d5 3.d4 c5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 Be7 6.Bxe7 Qxe7 7.e3 Nf6 8.Be2 0-0 9.0-0 Nc6 10.dxc5 Qxc5 11.Nc3 Rd8 12.Rc1 Qb4 13.Qc2 d4 14.a3 Qe7 15.Nxd4 Nxd4 16.exd4 Rxd4 17.Nb5 Rd8 18.Nxa7 Bf5 19.Qxf5 Qxe2 20.Qb5 Re8 21.Qxb7 Rab8 22.Qc6 Rxb2 23.Nc8 Re6 24.Qc7 h6 25.Nd6 Kh7 26.h3 Rd2 27.Nf5 Rd7 28.Qb8 Qd3 29.Ng3 Qxa3 30.Rc8 g6 31.Kh2 Qd6 32.Qa8 h5 33.Rd1 Qe7 34.Rxd7 Nxd7 35.Rh8+ Kg7 36.Qg8+ Kf6 37.f4 Rb6 38.Qc8 Kg7 39.Nf5+ gxf5 40.Qg8+, 1-0.

June 17, 2003

4th EUROPEAN INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: PIA WINS THE FEMS

AFTER leading the chase for gold in the women's section of the Individual European Championships for much of the tournament, Russia's Alisa Gallimova suffered a tragic reversal of fortunes during the later stages of the Silviri event.

Leading on 7/8 going into the home straight with just three rounds to play, Gallimova all but blundered away any medal aspirations with two successive lost games that blew the tournament wide open.

After finishing first equal on 8.5/11, Sweden's Pia Cramling and Lithuania's Victoria Cmilyte had to contest a playoff for gold and silver. And in the tiebreak, Cramling took the gold medal after beating Cmilyte 1.5-0.5. The result was a much-welcomed return to form for the elfin-featured Cramling, one of only six female players to hold the full GM title. In the early 1980s, Cramling was one of the world's top female players (before the rise of Judit Polgar and the Chinese), who was often regarded as a major threat to the Soviet dominance of the female game.

In a further playoff for the bronze medal after a three-way tie on 8/11, Marie Sebag (France) defeated Monika Socko (Poland), and then succumbed to Tatiana Kosintseva (Russia), who took the medal. Edinburgh-based Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant, representing her native Georgia, disappointingly finished 73rd on 5/11.

P Cramling - T Kosintseva
IEWCC, (11)
Leningrad Dutch
1.d4 f5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 g6 4.b3 Bg7 5.Bb2 0-0 6.Nf3 d6 7.0-0 Qe8 8.c4 Na6
9.Qc2 h6 10.Nbd2 c6 11.a3 g5 12.e3 Nc7 13.b4 a6 14.a4 Bd7 15.Ne1 e5 16.dxe5 dxe5 17.Nd3 e4 18.Nc5 Bc8 19.a5 Ne6 20.Ndb3 Qf7 21.Rad1 Nxc5 22.Nxc5 Be6 23.Rd6 Rfe8 24.Rfd1 Re7 25.Bf1 Ne8 26.Rd8 Rxd8 27.Rxd8 Kh7 28.Bxg7 Nxg7 29.Qc3 Re8 30.Rxe8 Nxe8 31.Qe5 Bc8 32.g4 fxg4 33.Nxe4 Be6 34.Bd3 Kg8 35.Qb8 Kg7 36.Nc5 Kf6 37.Nxb7 Nc7 38.Nd6, 1-0.

June 16, 2003

4th EUROPEAN INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: AZMAIPARASHVILI WINS

AFTER surprisingly leading the 207-player field (48 GMs!) for most of the 4th Individual European Championships in Silviri, Turkey, Georgian stalwart Zurab Azmaiparashvili, 43, held his nerve to take the title and gold medal with a winning score of 9.5/13.

For “Azmai,” a former trainer to Garry Kasparov and now a leading FIDE “fixer” who acts as head of the Georgian Federation, his performance in the strongest Open of the year will go some way in rehabilitating the damage caused to his playing reputation over a widely held accusation that he “fabricated” his stunning 1995 winning score of 16/18 during a quadrangular round robin held at Stumica, in Yugoslavia.

In a playoff for the silver and bronze medal positions with both players tied on 9/13, Russia's Vladimir Malakhov defeated Germany's Alexander Graf to claim the runners-up spot. A further 34 players (including top English junior Luke McShane, who yet again had another superb performance), who finished on scores of 8.5 and 8, also qualified for the next FIDE world knockout championship.

However, as there were 39 spots made available, two more places decided by a playoff were cancelled following a major disagreement. It was supposed to have involved four players: Alexei Fedorov vs. Ernesto Inarkiev and Sergei Tiviakov vs. Andrei Istratescu, who all had the lower tiebreak score of the large grouping, but the players felt that all the players tied on 8 points should be involved.

HOTEL SCAM!

IT'S all a far cry from the plight of the Tolpuddle Martyrs back in 1833, but the players at the 4th European Championships in Silviri, who felt they were being exploited, have formed a “Players Union.”

A large majority of the players were angry and concerned over many issues that affect their livelihood as professionals, but their main grievance was being forced to pay what they felt was an excessive hotel rate, claiming it to be twice the price for such hotels in Turkey. And, in order to play in the event, every competitor was forced to stay at the venue hotel, the Marine Princess, with a charge of $80 per day for full board.

The math is all very persuasive in supporting their claim. With the size of the combined field at over 300, and the length of stay being roughly 16 days, the revenues generated amounts to over $400,000 – compared to the combined total prize fund of $236,000. The new body also points out that of the 210 GMs competing, only 12-20 men and 6-10 women will be able to reimburse their costs from the prize fund.

187 participants have signed a letter of protest to the President of the European Chess Union, the body that runs the annual event, and already they are threatening to boycott next year's event unless their conditions are met. Already the grouping is in the process of electing a governing body, drafting the union's statutes and setting up a website to encourage membership.

V Malakhov - R Dautov
4th IECC, (7)
Reti's Opening
1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 c6 3.e3 Nf6 4.Nc3 a6 5.b3 Bf5 6.Be2 h6 7.0-0 e6 8.Bb2 Bd6 9.d4 Nbd7 10.c5 Bc7 11.b4 0-0 12.a4 Qe7 13.b5 Ba5 14.Nd2 Bxc3 15.Bxc3 Ne4 16.Ba5 Nxd2 17.Qxd2 axb5 18.axb5 e5 19.Bc3 exd4 20.Qxd4 f6 21.Bb4 Qe5 22.b6 Rfe8 23.Ra7 Rab8 24.Bc3 Qxd4 25.Bxd4 Nf8 26.f3 Ne6 27.Kf2 Nxd4 28.exd4 Re7 29.Rfa1 Rbe8 30.Bf1 Kf7 31.Ra8 Rxa8 32.Rxa8 Re8 33.Ra7 Bc8 34.Bd3 h5 35.h4 g6 36.g4 Re7 37.Ra8 Re8 38.gxh5 gxh5 39.Kg3 Be6 40.Bg6+, 1-0.

L Comas Fabrego - L McShane
4th IECC, (4)
Grunfeld Defense
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Nf3 c5 8.Rb1 0-0 9.Be2 cxd4 10.cxd4 Qa5+ 11.Bd2 Qxa2 12.0-0 Bg4 13.Be3 Nc6 14.d5 Bxf3 15.Bxf3 Ne5 16.Be2 Nc4 17.Bg5 Rfb8 18.Bxc4 Qxc4 19.Bxe7 b5 20.Rc1 Qxe4 21.Re1 Qf5 22.d6 Bf6 23.Bxf6 Qxf6 24.Qd5 Rd8 25.d7 Rab8 26.g4 b4 27.Re4 h5 28.Rce1 hxg4 29.Re8+ Kh7 30.Qc5 b3 31.Qc7 Ra8 32.Qb7 Qf3 33.Qb4 Rxd7 34.R8e3 Qf5 35.Re5 Qf6 36.Qxb3 Kg7 37.Qb4 Rad8 38.Qxg4 Rd4 39.R5e4Re8 40.Rxd4 Rxe1+ 41.Kg2 Re5 42.h4 Rf5 43.Qg3 Qxd4, 0-1.

K Kulaots J Grant
4th IECC, (3)
Caro-Kann Defense
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6 7.Nf3 Nd7 8.h5 Bh7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 e6 11.Bf4 Ngf6 12.0-0-0 Be7 13.Ne4 Nxe4 14.Qxe4 Nf6 15.Qd3 Qd5 16.c4 Qe4 17.Qxe4 Nxe4 18.Be3 Nd6 19.b3 b5 20.c5 Ne4 21.Kc2 Rc8 22.Ne5 Nf6 23.a4 b4 24.g4 Nd5 25.Bd2 Bg5 26.Rhe1 Bxd2 27.Rxd2 0-0 28.Kd3 f5 29.Ng6 Rf6 30.gxf5 Rxf5 31.Rxe6 Rxh5 32.Rd6 Rh3+ 33.Kc2 Rc7 34.Re2 Nf6 35.Rd8+ Kf7 36.Nh8 mate, 1-0.

One of the highlights of the opening rounds was the following game from round two, a truly spectacular king hunt that tragically backfired. White had a relatively easy win in hand with 23.Ndc7+ Ke7 24.Qc3!. However, in such positions in the Najdorf it's always tempting to go for the jugular.

K Guseinov - L Ftacnik
4th IECC, (2)
Sicilian Najdorf
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 Nbd7 7.f4 e6 8.Qe2 Be7 9.0-0-0 Qc7 10.Nf3 Nb6 11.Qe1 Bd7 12.e5 dxe5 13.fxe5 Nfd5 14.Bxe7 Nxe7 15.Bd3 Bc6 16.Qg3 Ng6 17.Bxg6 hxg6 18.Ng5 Nc4 19.b3 Nxe5 20.Rhe1 f6 21.Nxe6 Qa5 22.Nd5 Qxa2 23.Rxe5 Qa1+ 24.Kd2 Qxe5 25.Qxg6+ Kd7 26.Qxg7+ Kxe6 27.Qe7+ Kxd5 28.c4+ Kd4 29.Kc2+ Ke3 30.Re1+ Kf2 31.Rxe5 fxe5 32.Qxe5 Rhe8 33.Qf4+ Kxg2 34.Qg3+ Kh1 35.h4 Rf8 36.Qh3+ Kg1 37.Qg4+ Kf2 38.Qd4+ Kg2 39.Qg4+ Kh2 40.Kc3 a5 41.h5, 0-1.

L Ftacnik - Z Azmaiparashvili
4th IECC, (8)
Slav Defense
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.Nh4 Bd7 7.e4 e6 8.Nf3 b5 9.e5 Nd5 10.Ng5 Bb4 11.Qh5 g6 12.Qf3 f6 13.exf6 Qxf6 14.Qxf6 Nxf6 15.Bd2 0-0 16.Be2 a5 17.Bf3 Nd5 18.Nxd5 cxd5 19.axb5 Bxd2+ 20.Kxd2 h6 21.Nh3 Bxb5 22.Rhe1 Bd7 23.Bg4 Nc6 24.Kc3 Rab8 25.Ra3 Na7 26.Rxa5 Nb5+ 27.Rxb5 Rxb5 28.Bd1 g5 29.f3 Rfb8 30.Re2 Ra5 31.Nf2 Ra1 32.Bc2 Kg7 33.Nd1 Rb6 34.h3 Be8 35.Rf2 h5 36.f4 gxf4 37.Rxf4 Bg6 38.Bxg6 Kxg6 39.Kc2 Rxd1 40.Kxd1 Rxb2 41.g4 Kg5 42.Rf8 hxg4 43.hxg4 Kxg4 44.Rf6 Rb6 45.Kc2 Kg5 46 Rf3 Rb3, 0-1.

U Atakisi - J Martinez Arizmendi
4th IECC, (11)
Sicilian Sveshnikov
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Bxf6 gxf6 10.Nd5 f5 11.exf5 Bxf5 12.c3 Be6 13.Nc2 Bh6 14.a4 0-0 15.axb5 axb5 16.Rxa8 Qxa8 17.Bxb5 Nd4 18.Nf6+ Kh8 19.Nxd4 Qxg2 20.Bc6 d5 21.Qh5 Qxh1+ 22.Ke2 Qc1 23.Nf5 Qc2+ 24.Kf1 Bxf5 25.Qxh6 Qd1+ 26.Kg2 Rg8+ 27.Nxg8 Qg4+, 0-1.

C Peptan - A Galliamova
IEWCC, (6)
Scandinavian Defense
1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd6 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 a6 6.Bg5 b5 7.Bd3 Bb7 8.Qe2 Nbd7 9.0-0-0 e6 10.Kb1 Be7 11.Ne5 0-0 12.f4 Nb6 13.Bxf6 Bxf6 14.Ne4 Qe7 15.Rhf1 Na4 16.c3 Rad8 17.Bc2 g6 18.Bxa4 Bxe5 19.Nc5 Bd5 20.Bb3 Bxb3 21.axb3 Bd6 22.Nxa6 c6 23.Qf3 Rc8 24.Qe3 b4 25.c4 Ra8 26.Nc5 Bxc5 27.dxc5 Qf6 28.g4 Ra5 29.f5 Rfa8 30.fxe6 Ra1+ 31.Kc2 Qxb2+ 32.Kd3 Rd8+ 33.Ke4 f5+ 34.gxf5 Raxd1 35.Rxd1 Rxd1 36.e7 Kf7 37.fxg6+ Ke8 38.gxh7 Qc2+ 39.Kf3 Qxh7 40.Qe5 Qd3+ 41.Kf4 Qd4+, 0-1.

June 11, 2003

CIUDAD DE LEON: POMOMARIOV BEATS TOPOLOV 2 ½ - 1 ½

THE on-off-on-off again saga of title matches that were supposed to pave the way for unification in the chess world looks to have taken yet another twist.

There's speculation that the Ruslan Ponomariov - Garry Kasparov match, which was scheduled to start this month in Buenos Aires, but was then tentatively slated for November, may now be moved to Yalta in the Ukraine, starting early September. Ukrainian sources say the change was made following a weekend meeting in Kiev between the country's president, Leonid Kuchma, and FIDE President Kirsan Ilumzhinov.

And, just to confuse matters even more, it is also rumored now that, after Einstein's recent announcement of failing to find a sponsor or venue for the Vladimir Kramnik - Peter Leko match, FIDE may step in to (dis?) organize this one also, with the touted venue being...Buenos Aires! Whatever you do, just don't buy early tickets for any of these matches!

A recent article in The Spectator magazine plays on Kirsan's supposed cordial relationship with former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. There is some truth in this allegation as he was officially the last person out of Iraqi after a brief visit to one of Saddam's Palaces to meet his son, Uday -- just two days before hostilities began back in March.

The article goes even further and leans heavily towards explaining where some of Ilumzhinov's mysterious wealth has come from, which to-date has propped up chess to the tune of some $30 million -- even venturing to suggest where Hussein has gone to, as Ilumzhinov is also president of the Russian region of Kalmykia.

Wherever and whenever Ponomariov finally meets Kasparov, he will have the added confidence of going into the match with a morale-boosting win. The young Ukrainian added his name to the illustrious list of Leon champions that includes Kasparov, Vishy Anand, and Kramnik, as he defeated Bulgarian super-GM Veselin Topalov 2.5-1.5 in the final.

In a closely fought match, Ponomariov had the good fortune to win the decisive third game from initially a lost position (43.Rxg6+! and Black has to give up the queen to avoid mate after 43...hxg6 44.Qf6.), and then on time when his opponent had a repetition on the board and failed to make a move despite having a 10 second increment per move!

V Topalov - R Ponomariov
16th Ciudad de Leon, (2.3)
French Winawer
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Ne7 7.Qg4 Qa5 8.Bd2 0-0 9.Bd3 Nbc6 10.Nf3 f5 11.exf6 Rxf6 12.Qh5 Nf5 13.Ne5 c4 14.Bxf5 Rxf5 15.Qe8+ Rf8 16.Nxc6 bxc6 17.Qxc6 Rb8 18.0-0 Rb2 19.Bf4 Qxc3 20.Bd6 Rb6 21.Qc7 Rb7 22.Qc5 Re8 23.Qc6 Rd8 24.Rab1 Rxb1 25.Rxb1 Qxc2 26.Rf1 Qg6 27.Qc7 Qe8 28.Be5 Qd7 29.Qc5 Qb7 30.h3 Re8 31.Re1 Bd7 32.Qa5 Rc8 33.Re3 Be8 34.Rg3 Bg6 35.h4 Qb6 36.Qa4 Qb7 37.h5 Be8 38.Qd1 g6 39.Qg4 Qb1+ 40.Kh2 Qf5 41.Qh4 c3 42.Rg5 Qe4 43.Rg4 Qf5 44.Rg5 Qe4 45.Qh3 Rc6 46.hxg6 Bxg6 47.Qh6 Kf7 48.f3 Qe1 49.Rxg6 Qxe5+ 50.dxe5 hxg6 51.Qh7+ Kf8 52.Qd7 Rc4 53.Qd8+ Kg7 54.Qf6+ Kh7 55.Qf7+ Kh6 56.Qf8+ Kh7 57.Qe7+ Kh8 58.Qf6+, 0-1.

June 10, 2003

CIUDAD DE LEON: AGE & GUILE CRUSH YOUTH & INNOCENCE

THE quest for “perfect chess” was a marriage of convenience five years ago at the annual Ciudad de León tournament in Spain, with the creation of “Advance Chess”, a new concept in the game that allowed top Grandmasters to consult databases and playing engines running on cutting edge hardware during a match.

The concept was the brainchild of Garry Kasparov, created in the aftermath of his historic loss in 1987 to IBM’s Deep Blue, who defeated the Bulgarian super-GM Veselin Topalov in the inaugural 1998 event. In the intervening years, other such high-profile matches have featured Vishy Anand, Vladimir Kramnik, Judit Polgar and Anatoly Karpov.

This year, the Spanish organizers pulled the plug on the computers by reverting once more to “Manu et Manu”, a quadrangular knockout rapid tournament, which ran 6-8 June, featuring the Ukrainian FIDE world champion Ruslan Ponomariov, Topalov, talented young Spaniard Francesco Vallejo Pons, and the world’s youngest grandmaster, 13-year-old Sergei Karjakin also from the Ukraine.

Youth and innocence proved no match for age and guile on the opening day of the tournament, as Topalov scored a somewhat easy 3.5-0.5 victory over Karjakin to progress to the final; where he’ll meet Ponomariov, who similarly dispatched Vallejo Pons on day two by 3.5-0.5 to reach the final.

R Ponomariov F Vallejo Pons
16th Ciudad de León (1.4)
Queen’s Gambit Declined
1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 0-0 6.e3 Nbd7 7.a3 c5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Nxd5 exd5 10.dxc5 Nxc5 11.Be2 Bg4 12.Be5 Bf6 13.Bxf6 Qxf6 14.Qd4 Qxd4 15.Nxd4 Bxe2 16.Kxe2 Rfc8 17.Rac1 Ne6 18.Nf5 Kf8 19.Rhd1 g6 20.Nd6 Rxc1 21.Rxc1 d4 22.b4 Rb8 23.Rc8+ Rxc8 24.Nxc8 a6 25.exd4 Nxd4+ 26.Kd3 Ne6 27.Ke4 h5 28.Ke5 h4 29.Nd6 b5 30.Kf6 Nf4 31.Nxf7 Nxg2 32.Ne5 h3 33.Nxg6+ Ke8 34.Ke6 Ne1 35.f4 Nf3 36.f5 Nd4+ 37.Kf6 Nf3 38.Kg7 Kd7 39.f6, 1-0.

WINTON CAPITAL BRITISH CHESS SOLVING CHAMPIONSHIP

White: Rf1, Ne2, Pf2, Kh5, Qb5, Nc7, Be7.
Black: Kf5, Be5, Qc5, Ba4, Pc3, Pe4.

THIS is the starter position in the opening puzzle for the 2003-2004 Winton Capital British Chess Solving Championship. The problem is White to play and mate in two against any defence.

Send your entry (White’s first move only), with a check or postal order for £3.00, payable to the British Chess Problem Society, to Paul Valois, 14 Newton Park Drive, Leeds LS7 4HH. The championship is only open to British residents and the closing date is July 31.

It is also important to indicate where you saw the puzzle, so please mark underneath your answer “The Scotsman”. After the closing date all entrants will be sent the answer; and those who are correct will go forward to compete in the second, postal round, which will contain 8 more difficult and varied problems. In addition to this, all competitors, whether successful or not, who are not members of the BCPS will receive a recent copy of “The Problemist”, the house magazine of the BCPS.

Those successful enough to complete the postal rounds will be invited to compete in the finals weekend, held early next year at Oakham School in Rutland, which will have a prize fund of £1,175. For further information on the BCPS, and to follow the course of the competition, go to www.bstephen.freeuk.com.

June 3, 2003

28th KERES MEMORIAL: ORLOV SWEEPS WITH 7-0!

IN the summer of 1975, the chess world was stunned by the sudden death from a heart attack of Estonia’s Paul Keres in Helsinki, en route from victory at the Vancouver International in Canada.

Regarded by many as Alekhine’s heir-apparent after his impressive victory (the only undefeated player in a field that was supposed to determine a challenger for the world champion) in the AVRO 1938 tournament, Keres was unquestionably the greatest player never to have played for the world crown, due to an unfortunate mixture of World War II and its aftermath, as his small country was annexed by the USSR.

Although he came within half a point of playing for the title on more than one occasion, over the years, the conspiracy theorists pointed to the heavy-hand of the KGB, who they alleged "influenced" Keres to under perform against the ranks of the great Soviet masters, since Stalin saw chess as a means of establishing communism as the superior intellect over the West.

Whether Keres did do a deal in order to save his career (and perhaps his life) because of political pressures is still open to question to this day. When asked once, while visiting Estonia, why Paul Keres had never won the world crown, his friend, Boris Spassky, replied cryptically, "He was unlucky -- like his country."

Keres was hailed as a hero in his homeland, and thus received a state funereal in Tallinn on his death. He also became the first (and only) chess player to appear on a bank note when Estonia further immortalized their fallen hero on the back of a 5 Krooni note. He is also the only player to receive two annual memorial events, one at home in Estonia, and the other in Vancouver, scene of his final victory.

The 28th Paul Keres Memorial Open was held May 16th-19th in Vancouver, Canada, at the Plaza 500 Hotel. For the third year running, Seattle-based Russian émigré Georgi Orlov took the title and in spectacular style. Not only did Orlov win his fifth Keres Memorialtitle to equal the record of IM John Donaldson, but, for the first time in the tournament’s history, he took first place with a perfect score of 7/7, a full 1.5-points ahead of his nearest rivals, three-time Brazilian champion IM Herman van Riemsdijk and Oregon junior Morgan Griffiths, who both scored 5.5/7.

To Orlov's credit, especially after the outrage of the "GM draws" in the final round on the top boards at this year's U.S. Championships in Seattle, he turned down a draw offer -- a result that would have secured him outright first -- from IM Yan Teplitsky after only 8 moves, going on to record his seventh straight win of the tournament with today's game.

G Orlov Y Teplitsky
28th Keres Memorial, (7)
English Opening
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 b6 4.Bg2 Bb7 5.0-0 Be7 6.Nc3 0-0 7.Re1 d5 8.cxd5 exd5 9.d4 c5 10.dxc5 bxc5 11.Nh4 Qd7 12.Bg5 Rd8 13.e4 Nxe4 14.Nxe4 dxe4 15.Qxd7 Rxd7 16.Bxe7 Rxe7 17.Nf5 Rd7 18.Rad1 g6 19.Nd6 f5 20.Nxb7 Rxb7 21.f3 a5 22.fxe4 Raa7 23.exf5 Rxb2 24.f6 Kf7 25.Rd6 Rd7 26.Bd5+ Kf8 27.Rxd7 Nxd7 28.Re7 Nxf6 29.Rf7+ Ke8 30.Rxf6 Rd2 31.Bc4 Rd4 32.Rf4 Rd2 33.Rf2 Rd4 34.Rc2 Ke7 35.Kf2 Kd6 36.Be2 a4 37.Rc4 Kd5 38.Rxd4+ Kxd4 39.Ke1 Kc3 40.Kd1 a3 41.Kc1 c4, 1-0.

June 2, 2003

ST. PETERSBURG: KORCHNOI IS THE EVENT’S HERO

A lavish program of cultural events, shows and visits by world leaders has been taking place in Russia's baroque czarist capital of St. Petersburg, as part of a festive gathering last week to celebrate the 300th birthday of the country's second city.

This being Russia, and with St. Petersburg having one of the finest chess traditions outside of Moscow, it was inevitable that chess would play some role in the many festivities. On the actual anniversary day itself, Wednesday 28th May, proceedings got underway in the international press center dedicated for the many ceremonies held in the city with a unique chess match, St. Petersburg vs. NAO Chess Club in Paris.

The event, a "video-match", with both teams situated in St. Petersburg and Paris, was contested over four boards and played over a 15 minute plus 10 second increment time control, and was televised live on Russian TV to commence the celebrations -- and even had former world champions Boris Spassky and Anatoly Karpov doing the TV commentary.

The experienced St. Petersburg team was headed by former FIDE world champion Alexander Khalifman, and also included three-time Russian champion Peter Svidler, two-time world championship challenger Viktor Korchnoi and Konstantin Sakaev; and the NAO team (which was much younger than their opponents) was lead by world champion Vladimir Kramnik, and also included Azerbaijani prodigy Teimour Radjabov, French star Laurent Fressinet and the world's youngest GM Sergey Karjakin.

With three of the four games drawn, you could have written the script as the match was won 2.5-1.5 by St. Petersburg, thanks to a 71 move epic by one of the world's oldest, active players, seventy-two years young Viktor Korchnoi, who defeated Laurent Fressinet in a trademark rook and pawn ending.

V Korchnoi - L Fressinet
St Petersburg 300
Semi-Slav Defense
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Bd3 Nbd7 6.0-0 Bd6 7.Nbd2 0-0 8.e4 e5 9.cxd5 cxd5 10.exd5 exd4 11.Nc4 Nb6 12.Nxd6 Qxd6 13.Bc2 Bg4 14.Qxd4 Qxd5 15.Qxd5 Nbxd5 16.Bd2 Rfe8 17.Rfe1 h6 18.Nd4 Bd7 19.f3 Nb6 20.b3 Rac8 21.Rxe8+ Rxe8 22.Kf2 Rd8 23.Rd1 Rc8 24.Bd3 Nbd5 25.Nf5 Bc6 26.Ne3 Nxe3 27.Bxe3 a6 28.Bc4 Bb5 29.Bxb5 axb5 30.Rd2 Kf8 31.Bd4 Rc6 32.Bxf6 Rxf6 33.Rd7 Rb6 34.g4 b4 35.h4 g5 36.h5 Kg7 37.f4 gxf4 38.Kf3 Rb5 39.Kxf4 Kf6 40.Rc7 Ke6 41.Rc8 Kf6 42.Re8 Ra5 43.Re4 Rb5 44.Rd4 Ke6 45.Ke4 Kf6 46.Kf4 Ke6 47.Rd8 Kf6 48.Rd6+ Kg7 49.Ke3 Rg5 50.Rd4 Rb5 51.Rf4 Kg8 52.Kd3 Kg7 53.Kc4 Ra5 54.Kxb4 Rxa2 55.Kc5 Ra6 56.Rb4 Rc6+ 57.Kd5 Rc3 58.Rxb7 Rg3 59.b4 Rxg4 60.b5 Kf6 61.b6 Rb4 62.Kc5 Rb1 63.Rd7 Kg5 64. Rd5+ f5 65.Kc6 Kxh5 66.Rb5 Re1 67.b7 Re8 68.b8=Q Rxb8 69.Rxb8 Kg4 70.Kd5 h5 71.Kd4, 1-0.

May 29, 2003

BOSNA: SOKOLOV’S GREATEST TRIUMPH

OF all the countries in the former Soviet Bloc, Yugoslavia was arguably the one in which chess had the highest profile: with a number of top events, including the seminal match in 1970 in Belgrade between USSR and "the Rest of the World", and the 1972 Chess Olympiad in Skopje.

The country also boasted many very strong players; as well as what was for many years, before being supplanted by the advent of chess databases, the top reference work in the chess world -- the originally twice-yearly "Informants" from Chess Informant of Belgrade, first published in 1966.

The break up of Yugoslavia after Tito's death, and with it the bitter civil war that followed, dispersed many of their top players, to Bosnia Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and FYROM (the former Yugoslavian republic of Macedonia).

THE 33rd Bosna-2003 super-tournament, which ran 18-27 May at the Dom Armije Concert Hall in downtown Sarajevo, was won by returning local hero Ivan Sokolov, who kept his nerve in the final few rounds of the tournament to successfully fend off the challenge from the chasing pack.

Fourth seed Sokolov, a former Bosnian who now plays under the Dutch flag, went through the tournament undefeated to record one of the biggest wins of his career. Sokolov's winning score of 6.5/9 gave him a winning margin of half a point over last year's winner Sergei Movsessian, top seed Alexei Shirov and Rustam Kasimdzanov, who all finished second equal on 6.

One highlight of the tournament was the return of the King's Indian Defense, with 13 of the 45 games featuring it. The honors were even at the end of the tournament with 6.5-6.5, however the reintroduction made for some highly-entertaining play -- much like today's last round effort between Russia's Evgeny Bareev and Azerbaijani prodigy Teimour Radjabov.

There was some entertaining fireworks with 24...Rxf2! before the game fizzled out to a draw -- accepting the sacrifice was just too dangerous: 25 Kxf2 Bd4+ 26 Be3 Nf5 27 c5 Qf4 with winning chances.

Final standings: 1 I Sokolov (Netherlands) 6.5/9; 2-4 S Movsesian (Slovakia), A Shirov (Spain), R Kasimdzhanov (Uzbekistan) 6; 5 T Radjabov (Azerbaijan) 5; 6-7 B Kurajica, (Bosnia), E Bareev (Russia) 4.5; 8 Z Kozul (Croatia) 3; 9 B Damljanovic (Yugoslavia) 2; 10 E Dizdarevic (Bosnia) 1.5.

E Bareev, - T Radjabov
Bosna-2003, (9)
King's Indian Defense
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.b4 Nh5 10.Re1 f5 11.Ng5 Nf6 12.Bf3 c6 13.Rb1 h6 14.Ne6 Bxe6 15.dxe6 fxe4 16.Nxe4 Nxe4 17.Bxe4 d5 18.Bc2 Qd6 19.Qg4 h5 20.Qh3 e4 21.Be3 b6 22.b5 d4 23.Bg5 d3 24.Bb3 Rxf2 25.Rxe4 Raf8 26.Qe3 Re2 27.Bxe7 Rxe3 28.Bxd6 Rxe4 29.Bxf8 Bd4+ 30.Kh1 Kxf8 31.bxc6 Rxe6 32.c7, draw.

E Dizdarevic - S Movsesian
Bosna 2003, (4)
King's Indian Defense
1.Nf3 g6 2.c4 Bg7 3.e4 d6 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nc3 0-0 6.Be2 Na6 7.0-0 e5 8.Be3
Ng4 9.Bg5 Qe8 10.dxe5 dxe5 11.h3 f6 12.Bd2 Nh6 13.c5 c6 14.Bxa6 bxa6 15.Qa4 Nf7 16.Rad1 Rb8 17.b3 Rb7 18.Nb1 f5 19.Na3 f4 20.Nc4 g5 21.Bc3 g4 22.hxg4 Bxg4 23.Rd3 Bxf3 24.Rxf3 Ng5 25.Rd3 f3 26.Bd2 Nh3+ 27.Kh2 Qg6 28.Rxf3 Rxf3 29.gxf3 Qh5 30.Ne3 Ng5+, 0-1.

I Sokolov - T Radjabov
Bosna-2003, (5)
King's Indian Defense
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Bd3 0-0 6.Nge2 c5 7.d5 e6 8.0-0 exd5 9.exd5 Ng4 10.f4 Re8 11.h3 Nh6 12.Bd2 Nf5 13.Qb3 Na6 14.Rae1 Rb8 15.a3 Nc7 16.a4 Bd7 17.Ne4 Na6 18.Kh2 Nb4 19.Bb1 Qh4 20.Bc3 Ne3 21.Bxg7 Nxf1+ 22.Rxf1 Rxe4 23.Bxe4 Kxg7 24.Qc3+ Qf6 25.f5 Qxc3 26.Nxc3 Re8 27.f6+ Kf8 28.Bb1 b6 29.a5 bxa5 30.Ne4 a4 31.Nxd6 Re2 32.Ne4 Na6 33.Rf2 Re1 34.Bc2 Re3 35.Rd2 a3 36.bxa3 Rxa3 37.Re2 Ra2 38 Nd6, 1-0.

Z Kozul - T Radjabov
Bosna 2003, (3)
King's Indian Defense
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Nc3 d6 5.e4 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.Ne1 Nd7 10.Nd3 f5 11.Bd2 Nf6 12.f3 f4 13.c5 g5 14.cxd6 cxd6 15.Nf2 h5 16.Rc1 Ng6 17.Nb5 Rf7 18.Qc2 Ne8 19.a4 Bd7 20.Qb3 Bf8 21.Rc4 a6 22.Na3 Rg7 23.a5 Nf6 24.Qb6 Qe8 25.h3 g4 26.fxg4 hxg4 27.hxg4 Nh4 28.Rc7 Qg6 29.Be1 Rh7 30.Qb3 Nxe4 31.Qd3 Ng3 32.Rxb7 e4 33.Nxe4 Nxe4 34.Rxd7 Rxd7 35.Bxh4 Qh7 36.Rxf4 Qxh4 37.Rxe4 Bg7 38.Bf3 Rf8 39.Nc4 Rdf7 40.Re3 Rf4 41.Re4 Rxf3 42.gxf3 Qg3+ 43.Kh1 Kf7 44.Nxd6+ Qxd6 45.Kg2 Rh8 46.Qb3 Qh2+ 47.Kf1 Qh1+, 0-1.

T Radjabov - E Dizdarevic
Bosna-2003, (6)
Semi-Slav Defense
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.g4 Nxg4 8.Rg1 Nh6 9.Bd2 Nf8 10.e4 dxe4 11.Nxe4 Nf5 12.Nxd6+ Qxd6 13.0-0-0 Ng6 14.h4 Nge7 15.Bd3 f6 16.h5 Kf7 17.Rg4 b5 18.Bf4 Qb4 19.Rdg1 bxc4 20.Bxc4 Rg8 21.a3 Qb6 22.Nh4 Nd5 23.Nxf5 exf5 24.R4g3 a5 25.Rb3 Qa7 26.Bxd5+ cxd5 27.Qc6 Qa6 28.Qxd5+ Be6 29.Rb7+ Ke8 30.Re1 Rc8+ 31.Kd2 Rc6 32.Qd7+, 1-0.

May 28, 2003

CSVN INTERNATIONAL: COMPUTER VS. COMPUTER TOURNAMENT

AN investigation into Garry Kasparov's infamous match against IBM's Deep Blue will be the first movie sponsored through a new documentary fund, set up by a partnership between the BBC, the UK Film Council and the Canadian National Film Board.

Each of the three partners will contribute equally to the fund over the next two years, which will be dedicated exclusively to the production of feature length documentaries for theatrical release. The link-up is down to the enormous popularity and critical success of recent documentaries such as Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine.

The first film to be financed by the $3.5-million World Documentary Fund, will be "Game Over: Kasparov and the Machine", produced in conjunction with Alliance Atlantis, which is set for release in theatres this fall. The controversial match marked the first time a computer defeated a reigning world champion in an official match -- and also Kasparov's first in match-play.

The film will be directed by Vikram Jayanti, an acclaimed master of documentary film-making, who won an Oscar for his work on the 1996 film "When We Were Kings", covering an equally more infamous match-up: the 1974 “Rumble in the Jungle” heavyweight championship boxing bout in Zaire between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman.

Meanwhile, in the Dutch town of Leiden, the 3rd International CSVN (Computer Chess Association Netherlands) took place at the Denksportcentrum (Minds Sports Centre), running 16-18 May. There was a strong field of 14 computer programs taking part, among them the top three on the Swedish SSDF Computer Rating List: Shredder, Fritz and Chess Tiger.

For the past two year's the tournament has been dominated by top-playing program Fritz from the ChessBase stable. Despite losing to Fritz, The King, the chess engine of the world's top-selling program ChessMaster, won the tournament on tie-break ahead of Shredder with a final score of 7.5/9, thanks to a last round victory over Chess Tiger.

FRITZ - THE KING
CSVN Leiden, (8)
Sicilian c3
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.c3 e6 5.d4 cxd4 6.cxd4 d6 7.Bc4 Nb6 8.Bd3 Nc6 9.0-0 Nb4 10.Bb5+ Bd7 11.Bg5 Be7 12.Bxe7 Qxe7 13.Nc3 0-0 14.Bxd7 Qxd7 15.a3 N4d5 16.Ne4 dxe5 17.dxe5 Rac8 18.Re1 Rfd8 19.Qb1 Nf4 20.Nd6 Rc6 21.Qe4 Nbd5 22.Rad1 f5 23.Qb1 Rc5 24.Qa2 a5 25.g3 Ng6 26.b4 Rc3 27.Rxd5 Rxf3 28.Rdd1 Nf8 29.Nxb7 Qxd1 30.Rxd1 Rxd1+ 31.Kg2 Rdd3 32.Qc4 Rc3 33.Qb5 f4 34.bxa5 fxg3 35.hxg3 Rf7 36.a6 Rxa3 37.Qb6 Ra2 38.a7, 1-0.

May 26, 2003

PRAGUE AGREEMENT ON SHAKY LEGS

LAST year's painstaking attempts to reconcile the chess world, summed up in the so-called Prague Agreement, looks set for another blow with a statement to be released today in London by Einstein TV.

Einstein, who own the rights to the World Classical Chess Championship, have confirmed that they have been unable to secure full sponsorship from the Hungarian government (or any government for that matter) to cover all the prize fund for the Vladimir Kramnik-Peter Leko title match, which had an expected purse of $1 million plus. A significant number of potential title sponsors are believed to have shown an interest in sponsoring the match, but, despite positive negotiations with the Einstein team, the amounts to be raised in the time scale proved impossible.

"Combined with underlying international economic anxieties, the Iraqi war effectively undermined global commercial confidence to the point that no potential sponsor was willing to commit sufficient funds towards this match for us to feel secure in proceeding," the statement says.

Despite the setback, which indirectly could release Kramnik from his contract with Einstein by the end of June should the world champion wish to do so, Einstein remains upbeat and have indicated that they are determined to deliver high-quality elite chess events. They are now believed to be in exploratory discussions with a leading consortium on a major new chess development that could lead to the match being played later in the year, or indeed under a new structure. The statement further adds, "Given the current global economic climate and its associated uncertainties, we [Einstein] believe that everyone involved in the world of chess should work towards a common goal of establishing firm and lasting foundations for a commercially viable series of world championship chess events."

However, it's not all bad news on the unification merry-go-round. Also expected this week is a statement from FIDE, announcing that they have now secured from Argentina the $1 million in bank guarantees required that will allow the Garry Kasparov - Ruslan Ponomariov to take place in Buenos Aires, though now with an expected mid November start rather than the expected June date.

The fear now is that FIDE, who now have what they want with Kasparov back in the fold, could take full advantage of Einstein's predicament by pulling out of the Prague Agreement, and ultimately the unification process.

May 22, 2003

CAPABLANCA MEMORIAL: ZUNIGA GRANDA CRUSHES THE FIELD

CUBAN chess has been alive and well ever since the great Jose Raul Capablanca (1888-1942) wrested the world title from Emanuel Lasker at Havana in 1921. Fittingly, in a true tribute to one of the games great icons, each year since its launch on the 20th anniversary of his death in 1962, Cuba has held a memorial event to better remember their fallen hero.

The latest memorial, the 38th in the series, was held in downtown Havana at the Hotel Neptuno, running 5-19 May, and consisted of one elite tournament, two premier events, and a "mixto" tournament, providing a total field of 54 players.

However, despite the extra events, the top-rated elite tournament was the cynosure of all eyes, with eleven GMs in the field of twelve taking part in the category 13 (average rating 2557) all-play-all. The event was led from start to finish by the Peruvian GM Julio Granada Zuniga, who dominated the field to take first place on 8/11, a full point ahead of the Cuban GM duo of Lenier Dominguez and Lazaro Bruzon.

The win marks yet another road in the recovery of the talented Zuniga, who in the last year or so has made a much-welcomed return to chess after a self-imposed exile from the game due to religious reasons.

Final standings: 1 J Granda Zuniga (Peru) 8/11; 2-3 L Dominguez (Cuba), L Bruzon (Cuba) 7; 4-5 I Morovic Fernandez (Chile), V Ikonnikov (Russia) 6.5; 6-7 U Andersson (Sweden), R Leitao (Brazil) 5.5; 8 W Arencibia, Walter (Cuba) 5; 9-10 J Nogueiras (Cuba), Y Gonzalez (Cuba) 4; 11-12 R Vera (Cuba), A Zapata (Cuba) 3.

J Granda Zuniga - R Vera
38th Capablanca Memorial, (10)
Reti's Opening
1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 e6 3.g3 c6 4.b3 a5 5.a3 a4 6.cxd5 exd5 7.b4 Nd7 8.Nc3 Nb6 9.d3 Be7 10.Bg2 Bf6 11.Bb2 Ne7 12.0-0 0-0 13.Qc2 Be6 14.Rad1 Qc8 15.Rfe1 Rd8 16.d4 Bf5 17.e4 dxe4 18.Nxe4 Ned5 19.Ne5 Be7 20.h4 Nf6 21.Nd3 Nxe4 22.Bxe4 Re8 23.Bxf5 Qxf5 24.Re5 Qd7 25.Nc5 Qc7 26.Rde1 Nd5 27.Nxa4 Red8 28.Nc3 Bd6 29.Nxd5 cxd5 30.Qxc7 Bxc7 31.Re7 Rac8 32.Rc1 Bd6 33.Rxb7, 1-0.

J Zuniga Granda Y Gonzalez
38th Capablanca Memorial, (1)
Caro-Kann Advanced
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 c5 6.Be3 cxd4 7.Nxd4 Ne7 8.Nd2 Nbc6 9.N2f3 Bg4 10.0-0 Bxf3 11.Nxf3 Nf5 12.Bf4 Be7 13.Bd3 Nh4 14.Nxh4 Bxh4 15.Qg4 g6 16.Rad1 h5 17.Qf3 g5 18.Bc1 g4 19.Qf4 Qc7 20.Rfe1 Rg8 21.Qh6 0-0-0 22.g3 Nxe5 23.Rxe5 Qxe5 24.gxh4 g3 25.hxg3 Rxg3+ 26.fxg3 Qxg3+ 27.Kf1 Qf3+ 28.Ke1 Qg3+ 29.Kd2 Qf2+ 30.Kc3 Qc5+ 31.Kd2 Qf2+ 32.Kc3 Qc5+ 33.Kb3 Qb6+ 34.Ka4 Qc6+ 35.Ka3 Qc5+ 36.b4 Qc3+ 37.Ka4 b5+ 38.Kxb5 d4 39.Ka4 a5 40.Qd2, 1-0.

U Andersson - A Zapata
Capablanca Memorial, (4)
Old Indian Defense
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 d6 3.g3 e5 4.Bg2 c6 5.Nc3 Be7 6.0-0 0-0 7.e4 Nbd7 8.d4 Qc7 9.Rb1 a6 10.b4 b5 11.dxe5 Nxe5 12.Nxe5 dxe5 13.c5 Be6 14.Qc2 Rfd8 15.Rd1 Rxd1+ 16.Nxd1 Rd8 17.Ne3 g6 18.Bb2 Ng4 19.Nf1 Bg5 20.Rd1 h5 21.h3 Rxd1 22.Qxd1 Nh6 23.f4 Bf6 24.Qd2 Kh7 25.Nh2 Bg7 26.Nf3 exf4 27.Ng5+ Kg8 28.Bxg7 Kxg7 29.gxf4 Qd7 30.Qxd7 Bxd7 31.Nf3 f6 32.e5 Nf7 33.exf6+ Kxf6 34.Nd4 Nd8 35.h4 Ne6 36.Nxe6 Kxe6 37.Kf2 Kf6 38.Ke3 Ke7 39.Kd4 Kf6 40.a3 Be8 41.Be4 Bd7 42.Kc3 Be8 43.Kb2 Bd7 44.a4, 1-0.

May 20, 2003

STRONG CHESS PLAYERS IN SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT

UNLIKE last year's 5-0 drubbing of the MSPs at the Scottish Parliament, the June 18th match up of Scottish Youth Squad vs. MPs, to be hosted in the Chess Room at the House of Commons, will be no political landslide as many MPs have proved to be gifted players.

Captaining the Parliamentarians is Oxford West and Abingdon MP Dr. Evan Harris, a former junior champion, who along with Charlotte Atkins MP spearheaded the 1999 “Chess as a Sport Campaign” in parliament. Evans is expected to announce his squad for the match by early June. Likely candidates could include Labour MPs Angela and Maria Eagle, who were both England Junior Internationalists in their youth; and even rebel-rousing Father of the House Tam Daylell, who was one of Garry Kasparov's 1989 simultaneous victims.

Already Evans has recruited a Scot to play top board in the match in fellow Lib-Dem MP Alan Reid (Argyle and Bute), a former Scottish Olympiad and British Championship player, who had a rating of over 2250 at his peak. Reid, who through the late 1970s and early 1980s was a permanent fixture in the Scottish chess scene before being bitten by the political bug, now has the distinction of being the second strongest player ever in the House behind Marmaduke Wyvill, who was Member of Parliament for the Yorkshire constituency of Richmond from 1847 to 1868.

Wyvill's claim to fame is that he took part in the first International Chess Tournament ever in 1851, held in London to commemorate the Great Exhibition of that year. Amongst a stellar line-up that included Adolf Anderssen, Howard Staunton, Lionel Kieseritsky and Jozsef Szen, Wyvill battled through to the knockout final, only to lose 4.5-2.5 to Anderssen.

This victory earned Anderssen a place in the history books as the unofficial world champion after Staunton. Wyvill, who according to chess statistician Jeff Sonas in his Chessmetrics website (www.chessmetrics.com) was world ranked #12 in 1851, is almost forgotten today, perhaps because he competed in no more tournaments after 1851, and instead opted to concentrate on his political career.

A Anderssen - M Wyvill
London 1851
Sicilian Defense
1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.Nxd4 e6 5.Be3 Nf6 6.Bd3 Be7 7.0-0 0-0 8.Nd2 d5 9.Nxc6 bxc6 10.e5 Nd7 11.f4 f5 12.Rf3 c5 13.Rh3 Rf7 14.b3 g6 15.Nf3 Nb6 16.Bf2 d4 17.Bh4 Nd5 18.Qd2 a5 19.Bxe7 Rxe7 20.Ng5 Ne3 21.Qf2 Bb7 22.Bf1 Ng4 23.Qh4 Qd7 24.Rd1 Rc8 25.Be2 h5 26.Rg3 Qe8 27.Rd2 Rg7 28.c3 Ne3 29.cxd4 cxd4 30.Rxd4 Rc1+ 31.Kf2 Nd5 32.Rgd3 Qc6 33.Rd2 Qb6 34.Bc4 Rc2 35.Ke1 Rxd2 36.Rxd2 Qg1+ 37.Bf1 Rc7 38.Rd1 Rc2 39.Qg3 Ba6 40.Qf3 Bxf1, 0-1.

May 19, 2003

ENGLISH HOUSE OF COMMONS: THE CHESS ROOM

FOR over a century, chess was the only game officially allowed to be played in the House of Commons. There, they even have an exquisite “Chess Room,” filled with ornate and decorative sets from around the world, all gifted by foreign delegations.

But alas, in 1987, The Times reported that “because of the diminishing number of MPs with the time and inclination for chess,” the hallowed Chess Room was to be thrown open for games of chance “from mahjong to poker.”

Only two world champions have ever been invited in to play in the revered Chess Room: Jose Raul Capablanca in 1919, when he took on 38 of the best players in the House (w36, d2), and Garry Kasparov, who in 1989 won 10-0 in a similar match. Now, after last year’s 5-0 landslide over MSPs in the Scottish Parliament, the Scottish Youth Squad is set to play there as they take on the House of Commons in a match on June 18th.

The team set to do battle against the MPs will be Joe Redpath, 17, Edinburgh; Daniel McGowan, 16, Tiree; Steven Tweedie, 15 Airdrie; Colin Hall, 17, Perth; Christopher Macdonald, 13, Stirling; and Louise Mcnab, Aberdeen.

And, thanks to the initiative of Louise Macnab, the only girl in the line-up, the squad will get to do something that both world champions Capablanca and Kasparov didn’t get the honor of -- they will be received at 10 Downing Street! On the morning of the match, the squad will be invited into the official residence of the British Prime Minister by his wife Cherie Blair, before going on to see her husband in action during Prime Ministers Question Time, prior to the match starting at 7.00pm.

May 15, 2003

SHIFT OF POWER: ASIA SHOWS ITS MUSCLE

SINCE the demise of the legendary Soviet Chess School following the break-up of the USSR, Russia, with superstars such as Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik, took over the mantle of the world's leading chess superpower.

However, the balance of power could well shift full circle to Asia, the original birthplace of the game. China and India both lay claims to the origins of chess, and the governments of both countries are now investing heavily with state funding for chess in much the same way as the Soviets did after World War II.

The recent addition of chess to the 2006 Doha Asian Games will come down to a battle for gold between the two rival countries. Both teams recently went head to head for the medals at the Asian Team Chess Championships in Jodhpur, India. Despite the Indians picking up 10 of the 27 individual medals on offer, it wasn't the coveted team ones they so desired as China swept the Asian team titles in both the men's and women's sections.

In the men's section, China took gold with 25 points from India 'A' on 23.5, with India 'C', on 23 points, holding off Kazakhstan for the bronze. The board one individual performance went to little-known Dao Thein Hai of Vietnam, who top-scored on 7/9 to take gold ahead of China's Ye Jiang Chuan on 5.5, with India's Krishnan Sasikiran picking up the bronze.

In the women's section, China, with World Champion Zhu Chen taking the individual gold for her performance of 5.5/7 on top board, took the team gold on 20 points ahead of Vietnam on 19, with India 'A' the bronze on 18.5.

K Sasikiran - Dao Thien Hai
Asian Team Ch., (5)
Queen's Gambit Accepted
1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 dxc4 4.e3 e6 5.Bxc4 a6 6.0-0 c5 7.Bb3 b5 8.a4 b4 9.Nbd2 Bb7 10.e4 cxd4 11.e5 Nd5 12.Nc4 Be7 13.Nxd4 0-0 14.Qg4 Kh8 15.Bc2 Nd7 16.Qh3 g6 17.Bh6 Rg8 18.Nf3 Rc8 19.Bb3 g5 20.Nxg5 Bxg5 21.Nd6 Nxe5 22.Nxb7 Nf4 23.Qe3 Qf6 24.Nd6 Ng4 25.Bxg5 Rxg5 26.Qa7 Ne5 27.Rfc1 Rxg2+ 28.Kf1 Rcg8 29.Ke1, 0-1.

May 14, 2003

WADA: WILL CAFFEINE REMAIN BANNED?

LAST month in Copenhagen, the governing bodies of triathlon, amateur boxing and chess were the first to formally adopt a new global anti-doping code.

The World Anti-Doping Agency guidelines are designed to establish a uniform set of banned substances in sports ranging from amphetamines to steroids. Although they accept to adhere to the guidelines, FIDE plans to lobby the WADA for an exception to the drug-testing rules, claiming that chess, as a sport, "has a different perspective than other physical sports."

Under the new rules, competitive chess players, playing in major events such as the World Championships and Olympiads, would have to be wary of how much coffee they drink during the duration of a game, as caffeine is one of the stimulants banned by the WADA. The agency says "normal investigation" won't cause a positive test, but warns that results can vary based on a person's size and metabolism.

Dick Pound, an IOC member from Canada and chairman of the WADA, said he isn't considering exceptions for mind sports such as chess and bridge. "If they want to be treated as sports and not just as games, then they should accept the same rules as sports," said Pound. However, the chairman of the WADA did have some good news for chess players – he's now seriously looking at taking caffeine off the banned list.

Although chess isn't an Olympic sport, it's recognized by the IOC and hopes to be included in the Games in the future. For FIDE, the connection is important to the organization's 168 member federations, many of which receive crucial funding from their government through national Olympic committees or sports ministries.

Despite the intransigence of the IOC, the move to full acceptance as a sport may not be that far off. Last month it was also announced that chess would be included in the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar, as one of the 33 disciplines – where no doubt India and China will do battle for the gold medal.

Hot favorite for gold should he compete, would be India's Vishy Anand, the world number three, who along with Alexey Shirov, took part in an exhibition chess match during the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Last week Indian sports journalists voted Anand the inaugural "Hero of Indian Sports" award winner ahead of a star-studded field that included revered cricketers such as Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid.

V Anand - J Garcia Fernandez
Basque Match, (blindfold)
Alekhine's Defense
1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.Nf3 Bg4 5.Be2 c6 6.0-0 Bxf3 7.Bxf3 dxe5 8.dxe5 e6 9.Nd2 Nd7 10.Re1 Be7 11.g3 Qc7 12.Qe2 0-0 13.Bg2 Rfd8 14.Nf3 a5 15.h4 a4 16.a3 b5 17.Qe4 b4 18.Ng5 Nf8 19.axb4 Nxb4 20.Bf1 Rd4 21.Qe2 h6 22.Nxf7 Kxf7 23.c3 Rd5 24.Qe4 Na6 25.Qxa4 Ng6 26.Bxa6 Nxe5 27.Qe4 Nd3 28.Bxd3 Rxa1 29.Qxe6+, 1-0.

May 13, 2003

2002 CHESS OSCAR: KASPAROV WINS FOR THE 12th TIME

DESPITE having a lackluster performance in the past year by his own very high standards, world number one Garry Kasparov has somewhat surprisingly been awarded his twelfth Chess Oscar, the annual chess "Beauty Contest" that invites chess journalists, Grandmasters, and officials to submit their personal top 10 choices for player of the year.

Kasparov, who recently turned 40, polled 3802 points in the 2002 Chess Oscar and finished well ahead of Peter Leko (2668 points); the rest of the top-ten being: Vishy Anand (2453), Ruslan Ponomariov (2145), Vladimir Kramnik (1471), Evgeny Bareev (1132), Veselin Topalov (964), Judit Polgar (771), Anatoly Karpov (741), Alexander Grischuk (706).

The vote, organized by the Russian magazine "64", came as a surprise following a catalogue of disasters for Kasparov that included a shock loss to arch-rival Anatoly Karpov in New York; his only bright spot being the Bled Olympiad, where he turned in the highest individual performance rating to lead Russia to gold.

The chess year has been a good one for Hungary, thanks to the stunning performances of former prodigies Peter Leko and Judit Polgar, and my own voting preference reflected this with the choice of 1 Leko, 2 J Polgar, 3 Anand, 4 Kasparov, 5 Kramnik, 6 Bareev, 7 Ponomariov, 8 Karpov, 9 Adams, 10 Topalov.

For Leko, who came back from the "dead" last year, 2002 was outstanding and started by winning the Dubai Grand Prix. This was followed up by becoming Kramnik's official world title challenger after winning the Dortmund Candidates tournament. Polgar, who came eighth on the list, had her best season ever. The world's top female player (playing second behind Leko) was in stunning form as Hungary took silver in the Bled Olympiad just behind Russia; became the first female player to beat Kasparov in a competitive game; and best of all, came second behind Anand at Wijk aan Zee – all of which culminated in her finally breaking the 2700 barrier on the Elo list.

Originally the award was the brainchild of Spanish journalist Jorge Puig – with the cooperation of the International Association of Chess Press (the AIPE abbreviation is derived from the French name of the organization: Association Internationale de la press echiqueene) – who initiated the annual award in 1967, the first recipient being Denmark's Bent Larsen. In 1989, following the demise of the AIPE, the Oscar became defunct. However, following a seven-year hiatus, Alexander Roshal, the influential editor of the top Russian magazine "64", revived the annual award.

Roll of Honor: Bent Larsen 1967; Boris Spassky 1968-69; Bobby Fischer 1970-72; Anatoly Karpov 1973-1977 and 1979-1981; Viktor Korchnoi 1978; Garry Kasparov 1982-1988, 1995-1996, 1999 and 2001-2002; Vishy Anand 1997-1998; Vladimir Kramnik 2000.

P Heine-Nielsen - L McShane
11th Sigeman & Co., (1)
Gruenfeld Defense
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 c5 8.Ne2 cxd4 9.cxd4 Nc6 10.Be3 0-0 11.0-0 Bg4 12.f3 Na5 13.Bd3 Be6 14.d5 Bxa1 15.Qxa1 f6 16.Bh6 Re8 17.Kh1 Bd7 18.e5 Rc8 19.Ng3 Nc4 20.Bxc4 Rxc4 21.Ne4 Qb6 22.Rd1 Rxe4 23.fxe4 fxe5 24.Qxe5 Qf6 25.Qg3 e6 26.d6 e5 27.h3 b5 28.Bg5 Qe6 29.Be7 Rc8 30.Rf1 Qc4 31.Qf2 b4 32.Bg5 Bb5 33.d7 Bxd7 34.Bh6 Bf5 35.exf5 Qf7 36.f6 a5 37.Qb6 Ra8, 1-0.

May 12, 2003

11th SIGEMAN & CO. INTERNATIONAL: IVANCHUCK TAKES FIRST

UKRAINIAN superstar Vassily Ivanchuk had a rare first place with victory at the eleventh Sigeman & Co. Tournament, which uniquely for a modern-day event was split between two cities and two countries.

As part of a major drive to increase cultural exchanges between the two Scandinavian countries of Sweden and Denmark, the first half of the tournament was held in Malmo, with the final four rounds played in Copenhagen.

Ivanchuk, the world number twelve, dominated the event in both venues and put in a gritty performance to finish on an unbeaten score of 7/9, a full point ahead of his nearest rival, the Danish number one Peter Heine-Nielsen. Making the most of the freedom from academic work with his gap year before going on to Oxford in October, England's Luke McShane had yet another good outing and scored a creditable third place with 5.5.

The ever-adventurous McShane only came undone in the tournament with his reliance in playing an ultra-sharp variation of the Gruenfeld Defense favored by world number one Garry Kasparov that resulted in his only two defeats in the tournament. After losing to Peter Heine-Nielsen in the first round, in the final round McShane was hit by another Dane, Curt Hansen, with a little-known stunning sacrifice 20 Nxg6!; an amazing concept that appears to have lain undiscovered for over thirty years due to a major miss-assessment of the line.

Final scores: 1 GM V Ivanchuk (Ukraine) 7/9; 2 GM P Heine-Nielsen (Denmark) 6; 3 GM L McShane (England) 5.5; 4-7 GM S Berg-Hansen (Denmark, GM T Hillarp-Persson (Sweden), GM C Hansen (Denmark), GM E Sutovsky (Israel) 4.5; 8-9 GM J Hector (Sweden), GM J Timman (Holland) 4; 10 B Lindberg (Sweden) 0.5.

C Hansen - L McShane
11th Sigeman & Co., (9)
Gruenfeld Defense
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 c5 8.Ne2 0-0 9.0-0 Nc6 10.Be3 Bg4 11.f3 cxd4 12.cxd4 Na5 13.Bd3 Be6 14.d5 Bxa1 15.Qxa1 f6 16.Bh6 Re8 17.Kh1 Rc8 18.Nf4 Bd7 19.e5 Nc4 20.Nxg6 Ba4 21.e6 hxg6 22.Bxg6 Ne5 23.Be4 Bc2 24.Bxc2 Rxc2 25.Qd1 Kh7 26.f4 Kxh6 27.fxe5 Rc4 28.Qd3 b5 29.exf6 exf6 30.d6 Kg7 31.Qg3+ Kh7 32.Qh3+ Kg7 33.Qg3+ Kh7 34.Qf3 Kg6 35.Qd5 Rh8 36.h3 a6 37.Qd3+ Kg7 38.Qg3+ Kh7 39.Rf5 Qe8 40.Rxf6 Rg8 41.Qd3+ Kg7 42.Qf5 Rc5 43.Rf7+, 1-0.

S Hansen - V Ivanchuk
11th Sigeman & Co., (4)
Sicilian Scheveningen
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.g3 e6 7.Bg2 Bd7 8.0-0 Be7 9.Nxc6 Bxc6 10.a4 0-0 11.Be3 Qc7 12.Qe2 a6 13.Rfd1 Rfe8 14.a5 Rac8 15.Qc4 Nd7 16.Qa2 h5 17.h4 g6 18.Rd2 Ne5 19.Bb6 Qb8 20.Bd4 Bf8 21.Rad1 Bh6 22.Re2 Qc7 23.Bb6 Qe7 24.Be3 Bxe3 25.Rxe3 Red8 26.Qb3 Qc7 27.Ra1 Rb8 28.Nd1 d5 29.exd5 Bxd5 30.Qc3 Nc6 31.Bh3 b6 32.Qf6 bxa5 33.Nc3 Rd6 34.Rae1 Rf8 35.g4 Qe7 36.Qf4 hxg4 37.Bxg4 Rfd8 38.Rg3 e5 39.Qh6 Qf6 40.h5 Qf4 41.Qxf4 exf4 42.Rd3 Nb4 43.Rd2 Bc6 44.Rxd6 Rxd6 45.Re5 Rd2 46.Bd1 Na2, 0-1.

May 9, 2003

4 NATIONS CHESS LEAGUE: WOOD GREEN TAKES NO PRISONERS

"IT'LL never work." That was the usual advice Chris Dunworth was given when in 1993 he embarked on creating a UK-wide professional chess league based on the model of the successful German Bundesliga.

Now, some ten years on, the 4 Nations Chess League (4NCL) has become Britain's premier team competition. As ever, the highlight of the 4NCL season is the “Finals Weekend”, played over the May Bank Holiday at the West Bromwich Moat House Hotel.

In previous years, Wood Green have been regarded as the perennial bridesmaids of the tournament, having been strong contenders in the past four seasons only to be pipped to the post by the likes of big-spending teams such as Slough and Index IT. However, as the opposition lost many of their star players through financial difficulties, Wood Green held on to their super-club status thanks to the unstinting support from club stalwarts Peter Sowray, IM Paul Littlewood and club captain Brian Smith.

With a star-studded line-up for the finals weekend that included the likes of Michael Adams, Nigel Short, Jon Speelman, Alexander Baburin and Bogdan Lalic, Wood Green took no chances going into the final three rounds of the weekend, and were odds-on to win their first 4NCL Div.1 title with a 100% score on 16 points out of 16 and a 2-point lead over their nearest rivals, Guildford and Barbican.

Easily outrating the opposition, Wood Green took no prisoners in the first two rounds of the final weekend with emphatic 7-1 and 8-0 victories, respectively, over Betsson.com and Perceptron Youth. On firepower alone, the only opposition they had came in the final game of the season, when they played Guildford. Despite being held to a 4-4 draw -- a result that deprived them of being the only team in the history of the competition to win the title with a 100% score -- at long last assured Wood Green of the title.

Final standings, Div.1: 1 Wood Green 1 21/22; 2 Guildford-ADC 1 19; 3 Barbican 4NCL 1 18; 4 Betsson.com 15; 5 Wood Green 2 12; 6 Richmond 11; 7 The ADs 1 10; 8 Slough 9; 9 Barbican 4NCL 2 6; Relegated – 10 Perceptron Youth 6; 11 S Wales Dragons 3; 12 Bristol 1 2.

A Baburin - R Pert
4NCL, (9.4)
Grunfeld Defense
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.g3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Bg2 Nb6 7.Nc3 Nc6 8.e3 0-0 9.0-0 Re8 10.d5 Na5 11.Nd4 Bd7 12.e4 c6 13.Bf4 cxd5 14.exd5 Rc8 15.Rc1 Nac4 16.b3 Nd6 17.Qd2 Rc5 18.Rfe1 Nbc8 19.Be3 Rc7 20.Nce2 Nf5 21.Nxf5 Bxf5 22.Nd4 Bd7 23.h4 h5 24.Nf3 Bg4 25.Ng5 Rd7 26.Qb4 Nb6 27.Qf4 Bf6 28.Bd4 Kg7 29.Rc5 Qb8 30.Be5 Qd8 31.Re3 Bf5 32.d6 Bxe5 33.Qxe5+ f6 34.Qxf5 gxf5 35.Ne6+ Kf7 36.Nxd8+ Rdxd8 37.dxe7 Rd1+ 38.Kh2 f4 39.gxf4 Rxe7 40.Rxe7+ Kxe7 41.Rxh5 Rd2 42.Rh7+ Ke6 43.Rxb7 Rxf2 44.Rxa7 Rxf4 45.Kg3 Rd4 46.h5 Rd3+ 47.Kf4, 1-0.

May 8, 2003

BASQUE MATCH: J POLGAR, ANAND, and KARPOV “BASQUE” IN GLORY

THIS week marks the first anniversary of the so-called “Prague Agreement”, a Unity Plan devised by America’s Yasser Seirawan that promised much to end the bitter schism that divided the chess world with two rival world titles, yet so far has failed to deliver.

Last year in Prague, both warring parties faced up to the reality outlined in Seirawan's plan that unification was the only way forward for the good of the game, and a timetable to accommodate this with a winner-takes-all showdown between the two champions scheduled for November being agreed to. Unfortunately, the peace process looks (for now) to have been derailed as both the FIDE world title match in Argentina between Kasparov and Ponamariov, and the Einstein world title match (as yet to be announced) between Kramnik and Leko, has been beset by problems.

In reality, one of the biggest problems is that there doesn't seem to be anyone coordinating both camps with the same vigor and enthusiasm as there was in bringing the rival groups to the negotiating table in the first place. Last year in Prague, despite all his valiant efforts to reunite the chess world, Seirawan had to sit back in despair at seeing the fruits of his many months of diplomacy and tender negotiations being “hijacked” by others.

Despite the setback, life goes on as normal. A novel new event was recently held in the small Basque town of Santurtzi, near Bilbao in Spain, featuring three of the world’s elite players: Vishy Anand, Judit Polgar, and former world champion Anatoly Karpov.

They took on the Basque GM team of Félix Izeta, José Luis Fernández and Mario Gómez over the three disciplines of Blindfold, Rapidplay (50 minutes + 5 sec/move) and Advanced Chess, where the players are allowed to consult computers during the game. The top trio “Basqu-ed” in glory with a convincing 14.5-3.5 victory. Again the female of the species proved to be the deadlier, with Polgar, on 5.5/6, being the top scorer ahead of Anand on 5/6 and Karpov on 4/6.

According to the main sponsors, the local town council, the aim of the event was to combine the sporting, cultural and spectacular sides of chess. Apart from the play at the board, the players took part in a debate on the film “Searching for Bobby Fischer”, based on Fred Waitzkin’s true story of the pain and anguish of a father standing on the sidelines as he saw his son, Josh, develop from a beginner to become one of America’s top juniors.

A Karpov F Izeta
Basque Match (rapid)
Bogo-Indian Defense
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 Bb4+ 4.Bd2 c5 5.Bxb4 cxb4 6.g3 b6 7.Bg2 Bb7 8.0-0 0-0 9.Qd3 d6 10.Nbd2 Nc6 11.Ne1 e5 12.Nc2 a5 13.Rfe1 Re8 14.Bxc6 Bxc6 15.e4 Qb8 16.a3 bxa3 17.Nxa3 Ra7 18.f3 h5 19.Nf1 Rb7 20.b4 exd4 21.b5 Bd7 22.Qxd4 Be6 23.Ne3 Rd7 24.Nb1 h4 25.Kf2 Qc7 26.Nc3 Qc5 27.Qxc5 dxc5 28.Na4 hxg3+ 29.hxg3 Rb8 30.e5 Rd2+ 31.Re2 Rxe2+ 32.Kxe2 Nh5 33.Kf2 f6 34.Rd1 fxe5 35.Rd6 Kf7 3.Nxb6 Nf6 37.Na4 Nd7 38.Ra6 Rh8 39.Kg2 e4 40.fxe4 Ne5 41.Nxc5 Bxc4 42.Nxc4 Nxc4 43.b6 Rb8 44.b7 Ne5, 1-0.

May 6, 2003

GENERATION TOURNAMENT: PERELSHTEYN DOMINATES!

THE Dundee International of 1867 in Scotland, with a field that included the likes of Steinitz and Blackburne, proved to be a landmark event for the evolution of chess praxis by being the first tournament where draws counted as a half-point and were not replayed.

In those good old days of yore, the thought of a quick draw would have been abhorrent to such a swashbuckling group of masters. Nowadays, the notorious "grandmaster draw," a short, uneventful splitting of the point between players too lazy, too bored, too tired or too scared to fight at the board, has long been a problem for the game.

There was controversy at this year's U.S. Championships in Seattle run by the America's Foundation for Chess (AF4C), as most of the top players -- almost as if in unison -- all agreed bloodless draws in the final round rather than fight for the title and the huge prize fund at stake – much to the chagrin of the sponsors, media and chess fans, who eagerly anticipated a thrilling shootout with tens of thousands of dollars up for grabs.

The worst offending tournament on record for the abuse of GM draws was the 1999 Petrosian Memorial, where the ten players "competing" found a fitting way to pay tribute to the 9th world champion Tigran Petrosian -- they managed 42 draws from 45 games, and at an average of just 26 moves!

American GM Maurice Ashley decided to "do something about it," by organizing this Category 10 round-robin tournament at the famed Manhattan Chess Club in New York with a twist: Draw offers can't be made before Move 50. The penalty for those who do take short draws at the Generation Chess International is a fine of 10 percent of their prize money and a tenth of the GMs appearance fees being donated to...the AF4C!

THE Generation Chess International tournament was won by American International Master Eugene Perelshteyn, who dominated the novel event aimed at eradicating from the game the farce of the 'grandmaster draw'.

Despite a last round loss to Estonian top seed Jaan Ehlvest, Perelshteyn's margin of victory over his nearest rivals was a full point -- a performance that also secured the University of Maryland Baltimore County student and team captain a grandmaster norm.

The new-styled event prohibited players from making draw offers before move 50; the only caveat being that of a repetition (or even stalemate), of which the tournament only had five. Most of the games from the tournament turned out to be hard-fought encounters as many of the players were forced into "re-discovering" the endgame in chess. By its conclusion, nearly 80% of the games (with an average of 51 moves per game) proved decisive compared to the more usual figure of 50% in such events.

Final standings: 1 IM E Perelshteyn (USA) 6.5/9; 2-4 IM I Krush (USA), GM J Ehlvest (Estonia), GM L Christiansen (USA) 5.5; 5 GM L Yudasin (Israel) 5; 6-7 IM A Simutowe (Zambia), IM V Akobian (USA) 4.5; 8 IM M Bluvshtein (Canada) 3.5; 9 FM S Muhammad (USA) 2.5; 10 IM W Paschall 2.

E Perelshteyn - J Ehlvest
Generation Tournament, (9)
Accelerated Dragon
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nc6 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 0-0 8.Bb3 d6 9.f3 Bd7 10.Qd2 Nxd4 11.Bxd4 b5 12.0-0-0 a5 13.a4 bxa4 14.Nxa4 Qb8 15.Kb1 Bxa4 16.Bxa4 Rc8 17.Qd3 Nh5 18.Qb3 Qc7 19.Bb6 Qc4 20.Rd5 Qe2 21.Rg1 Nf4 22.Rxa5 Rxa5 23.Bxa5 Ra8 24.Qb6 Bd4 25.Qxd4 Rxa5 26.b3 Nxg2 27.Qd1 Nf4 28.h4 Qf2 29Qe1 Qb6 30.Ka2 Ne6 31.Rg4 h5 32.Rg2 Nc5 33.Rg5 Ra8 34.Ka3 Rb8 35.Qc3 Qa6 36.Rd5 Rc8 37.Qd2 Qf1 38.Qd1 Qf2 39.Rd2 Qe3 40.Qe2 Qc3, 0-1.

E Perelshteyn - L Yudasin
Generation Tournament, (3)
Caro-Kan Defense
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Ng5 Ngf6 6.Bd3 e6 7.N1f3 Bd6 8.Qe2 h6 9.Ne4 Nxe4 10.Qxe4 Nf6 11.Qe2 c5 12.dxc5 Bxc5 13.0-0 0-0 14.c4 b6 15.b3 Bb7 16.Bb2 Qe7 17.Rad1 Rfd8 18.Ne5 Kf8 19.Bg6 Qc7 20.Bxf7 Rxd1 21.Rxd1 Rd8 22.Rxd8+ Qxd8 23.Bxe6 Qe8 24.Bf5 Kg8 25.Bg6 Qa8 26.Nd7 Ne4 27.Bxe4 Bxe4 28.Qg4, 1-0.

May 2, 2003

MOSCOW & ST PETERSBURG CHAMPIONSHIPS

FROM the end of the Second World War, and indeed for up to a decade before, the old Soviet Union was the world’s chess superpower: a mantle inherited by Russia after the break-up of the USSR.

The two biggest cities, Moscow and St Petersburg, remain the top centers of chess, and so their championships, both of which have just concluded, are of interest even though many of the top players did not take part.

After a series of qualification tournaments, the Moscow Championship ran from 16 April until 30 April: a tough 32-player knockout event that had among the field 15 GMs and 15 IMs. In a triumph for the seedings for the tournament, the top two players Vladimir Malakhov and Evgeny Najer won through to the finals after beating Sergey Shipov and Evgeny Vorobiov respectively in the semifinals. And in the best-of-four-game final, Najer defeated Malakhov by 2.5-1.5 to take the title.

By contrast, in St Petersburg they had a traditional all-play-all that ran 16 April until 28 April, though this was weaker, averaging just 2517 (category 11). Nevertheless, it was well known in Soviet times -- and no doubt holds today -- that “every Russian town” contains at least one almost unknown player strong enough to inflict damage on visiting grandmasters; and sure enough, IM Denis Yevseev took first place ahead of the chasing grandmaster pack with an unbeaten score of 8/12 to win his first title.

D Yevseev - K Aseev
St Petersburg Ch., (11)
Catalan Opening
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 Bb4+ 4.Bd2 Bxd2+ 5.Qxd2 d5 6.Bg2 0-0 7.Nf3 Qe7 8.0-0 Rd8 9.Rc1 b6 10.cxd5 exd5 11.Qf4 c6 12.Ne5 Bb7 13.Nd2 Nfd7 14.Ndf3 Nxe5 15.Qxe5 Qf8 16.Qc7 Rd7 17.Qf4 f6 18.Rc3 Na6 19.a3 Re8 20.Qd2 Nc7 21.e3 Nb5 22.Rc2 Nd6 23.Ne1 Ne4 24.Qb4 Qf7 25.Nd3 h5 26.Qb3 h4 27.a4 hxg3 28.hxg3 g5 29.a5 b5 30.a6 Ba8 31.Nb4 Qh5 32.Nxc6 Kg7 33.Nb4 Rh8 34.Rac1 Kg6 35.Qd3 Rdh7 36.Qd1 g4 37.Kf1 Ng5 38.Qd3+ f5 39.Nc6 Bxc6 40.Rxc6+ Kg7 41.Qxf5, 1-0.

4th KARPOV INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENT: SVIDLER & LAUTIER WIN

IT’S always a bad sign when they start to name tournaments after you, as invariably this implies a memorial event held in your honor, as you rest peacefully six-feet under pushing up the daisies.

However, there are some notable exceptions, such as Miguel Najdorf, Viktor Korchnoi, and former world champion Anatoly Karpov. The recently completed fourth international “Karpov” tournament in Poikovsky (20-29 April) celebrates the life and achievements of the 12th world champion, and proved to be one of the strongest closed events held in Russia for some years.

The category 16 (Elo average 2632) round robin had an international line-up that was headed by three-time Russian champion Peter Svidler, and also included former French champion Joel Lautier, and former Russian champion Sergey Rublevsky. On tiebreak, Svidler took first place ahead of Lautier after both finished equal first on 6/9.

Despite his advancing years, Karpov, 52, continues to be an active player on the international circuit. Last year proved to be one of his best seasons in recent years, which culminated in a memorable win in New York over his nemesis, Garry Kasparov. The old fox arrived in Poilovsky hot-footed from Warsaw to officially open the event held in his honor, fresh from yet another conquest -- this time a comfortable 6-2 victory over the young Polish GM Bartlomeij Maceija in a rapidplay match.

Final Standings: 1-2 P Svidler (Russia), J Lautier (France) 6/9; 3-4 S Rublevsky (Russia), V Zvjaginsev (Russia) 5.5; 5 A Onischuk (USA) 5; 6 G Vescovi (Brazil) 4.5; 7 V Bologan (Moldavia) 4; 8 Y Pelletier (Switzerland) 3.5; 9 S Lputian (Armenia) 3; 10 A Obodchuk (Russia) 2.

P Svidler - S Rublevsky
4th Karpov International, (5)
Sicilian Scheveningen
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 d6 7.Be3 Nf6 8.f4 Bd7 9.Bf3 Rc8 10.Qe2 b5 11.a3 Qc7 12.g4 Nxd4 13.Bxd4 Qc4 14.Qxc4 Rxc4 15.0-0-0 h6 16.Rhe1 Be7 17.e5 dxe5 18.Bxe5 Bc8 19.Be2 Rc6 20.h4 0-0 21.g5 Nd7 22.Bd4 hxg5 23.hxg5 Bd6 24.Be3 Bxa3 25.Nxb5 Bxb2+ 26.Kxb2 axb5 27.Bxb5 Rc7 28.c4 Nc5 29.f5 exf5 30.Bf4 Rb7 31.Bd6 Be6 32.Bxc5 Rc8 33.Rxe6 fxe6 34.g6 Rbb8 35.Ba7 Rb7 36.Bf2 Kf8 37.Kb3 e5 38.Rd6 f4 39.Rd5 Rc6 40.Bc5+, 1-0.

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